The Rapha and the Firefly, page 18
An amazed murmur was shared by the crowd. Basil blinked, relieved that the iciness of the crowd was starting to melt. He felt his tense shoulders start to relax.
“Yes!” the dark-haired hopper continued. “And she’s learning how to make fire and cook, and to wash…” as Dill said this last, he brushed some mud from Ariel’s hair. The crowd laughed outright. Oh, yes. Dill thought, and he smiled broadly. He had the crowd where he wanted them.
“Sometimes,” he justified. “But the point is, she is so wanting to learn about us. She even has a job helping Tanner, so she can earn a pair of her own boots: leather boots like you and I have. Not just skins that are tied on like they wear in her tribe. And she can eat with a fork and spoon now. And she’s learning to sew, and to paint and she even made a few pots on Basil’s pottery wheel. She’s baked cookies, and lasagna. She loves music. In short, she finds us amazing. She so wants to be a part of what we are. But there’s still one thing she isn’t allowed to be a part of and that’s our Assemblies.”
There was another murmur. Agreement? Contention? Dill wasn’t sure, so he pressed on.
“Our Assemblies. You know, those meetings we have once a week to talk about brotherhood and love and working out our differences. These meetings that are supposed to draw us closer together and make us want to take care of one another.
“But she’s a flyer, you say. She isn’t one of us. Flyers don’t care about others. They would never stoop to trying to save someone who wasn’t one of them. Especially from something as deadly as a spider.”
The crowd was dead silent.
“Or learn how to read,” Dill continued. “Or cook. Or wash, even sometimes. Or take a job. Or work with one of us. They aren’t like that. And they shouldn’t be in our meetings, because they don’t deserve to learn about brotherhood or love or caring for one another.”
Dill paused. Not a sound was heard. Every eye beneath the great oak was riveted on the hopper.
“But maybe,” he continued. “Maybe none of us deserve it. Because none of us are perfect. That’s why we’re here at assembly, isn’t it? To learn to be better elves? Is it possible for a flyer to want to be a better elf, too? Or is that exclusive to only gnomes and hoppers, tree sprites and water nymphs? Are flyers capable of becoming better persons too? I think Ariel has already shown, that at least this one flyer can. And isn’t that what assembly’s all about?”
The room grew quiet. Ariel looked up at Dill, wondering if he was going to say more, but no. He just stood there waiting. Ariel looked at the crowd. They were waiting too. Waiting for what? But then, after many long seconds, it happened. Someone was clapping. Ariel looked up to see where the sound was coming from. It was Tanner. He stood there among a sea of startled faces, looking at her, and he smiled. Then Basil stood up and clapped, then Rosie and Sage. And Josiah and his family and the Widow Weaver and her children. Then Grandma Love and Thyme. All around her, people were rising and clapping. The little children cheered and laughed. People smiled at her and each other. Dill grinned at her and allowed his hand to slide off her shoulder. He took her hand and quickly squeezed it before letting go as the clapping went on.
But there were others there who were not standing, and they were not clapping. Ariel noticed that Keeper was one of them. He stared at her with angry eyes. From the other side of the room, a hopper stood up.
“Assembly is over!” his voice boomed out in authority. “There will be a meeting of the council immediately!”
“Oh, no,” Dill groaned under his breath.
“Who’s that?” Ariel whispered.
“Hollow.”
28
Repercussions
“That’s Hollow?” Ariel tried to get another look at the hopper, but the crowd was beginning to disperse and many of the elves were coming down to the arena to meet the princess and her view was blocked. Strangers stopped to greet Ariel and give her an encouraging pat or squeeze of the hand. People she knew hugged her before they left and told her not to worry.
“It’s good to see you here.” they said. “Keep your chin up.” “It’s going to work out.”
Others patted Dill on the shoulder. “That was some speech, lad,” one said.
Dill nodded his thanks and tried to smile, but Ariel could tell something had him concerned. The crowd thinned out and the Rapha made their way to them.
“What were you two thinking?” Keeper hissed. “You’ve gotten us all in deep water!”
“Maybe not,” Sage interjected. “Dill definitely got a majority of the community on Ariel’s side.”
“The community isn’t the council,” Keeper reminded them. “Hollow is fit to be tied and I don’t think Willow’s happy either.”
“Joseph!” the voice boomed again. Ariel looked to find the hopper. Now that the crowd was nearly gone, he was easy to pick out.
Hallow was as tall as Dill and had the same muscular build. He had a full trim beard of silver that matched a full head of short hair.
Ariel couldn’t help doing a mental comparison between the Rapha leader and that of the hopper’s: There stood Hollow, feet planted firmly, arms crossed on his chest, glaring at the flyer and the group around her. Keeper’s stance mirrored the hopper’s. Hollow was tall anyway but standing on the bottom step made him even taller compared to Keeper who rivaled Basil as the shortest of the Rapha. They were about the same age, but Keeper looked ragged by comparison. Hollow’s beard was full and trim, his hair silver and short, framing a clean, smooth skinned face: Keeper rarely trimmed his beard and had brown, gray-tinged hair down past his shoulders. His face was darkly tanned with the long white scar strongly contrasting his skin. Hollow wore a fine silk shirt, a velvet cape and gold braid. His trousers were neatly pressed and tucked into fancy polished boots. Keeper wore a common shirt and his woven vest with his wool cape, and his short trousers that only came down below his knees and showed off his bare legs and red feet. Yes, Hollow definitely looked very grand by comparison, but Ariel couldn’t help feel that Keeper seemed more “real” in her eyes, with his common clothes of a laborer.
“Joseph!” Hollow repeated, now that the room was empty of all but the Rapha group and the council members. He stepped down from the stair and purposefully crossed the room to them. “How very clever you are! You’ve finally found a way to get flyers into our assemblies! How long did it take you to train her to come in at the door?”
“I had nothing to do with this, Hollow.” the Rapha leader growled back.
“Really? Funny, it doesn’t seem that way. It seems to me that your pack of rejects has been trying to worm this flying vagabond into our society for some time now. You’ve been wanting flyers included since the very beginning of the Alliance. Why should this be any different?”
“As I remember, Hollow,” put in an old water nymph who came up beside the hopper, “Joseph wasn’t even in the valley when Ariel first came here. He was away to Wichita working on the strep-throat vaccine.”
That must be River, the nymph leader, Ariel thought to herself. She studied him carefully, trying to decide if he was friendly or not, but his stone expression was unreadable.
Hollow stepped in front of Ariel and the Rapha.
“And yet there he is standing with her now,” he smirked.
“And by your proximity, it appears you are too,” Keeper remarked.
Hollow scowled, took a step back and turned to the others there in the chamber: the high council members: River, Willow the wood sprite and Grandma Love the gnome, and those of the People’s council: Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Basil and the eight other people’s council members Ariel had never met.
“My fellow council members,” Hallow said. “It seems an issue has presented itself today. We have among us a flyer that’s been allowed to come into our community, learn some of our ways and cohort with some of our young people. Up to this time, we’ve turned our heads and let these young people have their fun. But now, this flyer has come into our most sacred of places, disrupting one of our ceremonies and causing contention among our community. It is our duty to put this to right.”
“Put it to right!?!?!?” Dill demanded. “What contention are you talking about? Most of the community made it very clear she should be welcomed here.”
Hollow sighed loudly. “Joseph, kindly remind your little gypsy that he’s not a council member and doesn’t have a voice at these proceedings, however eloquently his silver tongue can sway the masses. The common-folk may enjoy has prattling, but with his history, we cannot but expect his former speech to have been imbedded with lies anyway.”
It was only Sage’s quick reaction that saved Hollow from the fist aimed at his face. He grabbed Dill’s arm and pulled him back while the younger man spouted off a few rude comments about Hollow’s linage. Tanner took Dill by the shoulder.
“Come on, sport,” he said. “Let’s go sit this one out.” As he turned Dill away, he cast a cold glare at Hollow. “Jerk!”
Though Basil and Keeper were not as physical as Dill had been, they were definitely as verbal as their counterpart.
“That was uncalled for, Hollow!” Keeper snarled. “I have half a mind to hit you myself!”
“You two faced snake!” Basil barked. “If your tongue were any more silver, you could melt it down and use it for a belt buckle!”
“Oh, really?” Hollow remained cool as he scrutinized Basil with his icy gaze. “Pray tell, boy, did your friend not lace that monolog of his with lies?”
Basil swallowed hard and looked over at Dill. The other rolled his eyes.
“Well, not really.” Basil replied. “She’s only read a few Tuttle Twins books and none of the Little Hopper series, but overall…”
“Ah ha!” Hollow interrupted. “Just as I thought. He’s a liar! And now,” he turned to the rest of the council members. “I believe we need to vote on whether or not we should continue to allow this flyer’s involvement in our community. As Joseph, Rachel and these four…” he waved to indicate Basil, Rosemary, Sage, and Thyme, “are so invested in this girl’s involvement, it’s my recommendation that their votes be excluded from the count.”
“WHAT!?!?”
“It only levels out the playing field,” Hollow explained. “You six are personally involved in the issue. You should go sit with Tanner and the thief there.” He indicated Dill who jumped to his feet, nostrils flaring. Tanner pulled him back down. Hollow turned his back on them and faced the remaining council.
“So, what is our decision, then? Should we let this flyer run rampant in our community, infecting our children with her ways and beliefs, or send her home so we can continue our lives in safety?”
The whole of the Rapha were in an uproar, voicing their concerns with Hollow’s twisted elaboration. Hollow called for their silence, which no one paid any heed to. The shrill childlike voice could hardly be heard over the uproar.
“Don’t I get to say something?”
The shouting stopped as all eyes turned to stare at the young flyer there in their midst.
29
Ariel's Defense
The princess repeated herself, quietly, but this time everyone was focused on the girl, and heard her.
“Don’t I get to say something? After all, this is all about me, ain’t it? Shouldn’t I be telling you what I think of all this?”
“NO!” Basil and Keeper answered together. They both knew how simple of speech Ariel was, with her lack of such basic understanding of how this council ran. Hollow could easily tear her apart word by word. It wouldn’t go well for any of them. Of course, their reaction to Ariel’s request told Hollow all he needed to know. He smiled with false kindness at the young girl.
“Why, of course, you may, my dear,” he purred. “This council should never be accused of not being open minded.”
“She’s a child, Hollow.” Keeper growled. “She doesn’t understand.”
“Then we will keep to one syllable words.” Hollow promised. He waved Ariel to begin.
The princess took a deep breath to collect her thoughts. What in the world was she going to say?
“Well, I did save Basil from a spider, but that’s because he saved me first,” she began. “Most of what Dill said, really happened, except I didn’t drag Basil back. I just carried him, ‘cause he’s really not that heavy.” Basil could feel his face turning red. Keeper just rolled his eyes. This speech wasn’t helping any. Hollow smiled smugly, sure in his assessment of the flyer’s intelligence level. It wouldn’t take long for the council to seal her fate at this rate.
“But,” the girl continued. “Dill was wrong about something. I didn’t come in here to your assembly to learn about love and stuff. I don’t even understand what brotherhood or love, or caring is, really. I came because I wasn’t supposed to. Keeper wouldn’t allow me to come. That’s why I had to spy on Dill and Basil and follow them real sneaky-like. I’ve been trying for weeks and weeks, but I’ve always been too late. But today I was able too.”
Hollow smiled even broader. My! he thought, this child is quite the babbler! Keeper sighed and sat down beside Tanner. He scanned the others in the group. They were listening politely to the princess, but obviously amused. As if she were a young child expounding upon her discovery that water flowing under a bridge comes out on the other side. This wouldn’t go well for the girl.
“I don’t know what I expected to find here,” Ariel was confessing. “But I knew it must be something wonderful. I thought maybe finding out about assembly would explain those things I couldn’t understand.” She stopped for a moment, wondering if she should go on. She wasn’t sure how to read the council members faces, but they seemed bored to her.
“Pray tell, child,” Hollow encouraged. “What things? What is it that you don’t understand?” He smiled slyly at Keeper who glared at him.
“Well…” the princess hesitated. “Like why Rosie’s so pretty. But it’s not just on the outside. It’s inside too, and I don’t understand why, or why I know that, but I know it’s true.
“And why Sage is so nice even though he’s so big. He used to scare me at first, because he looks so big and strong, but I know now that isn’t the way he is. He’d never hurt anyone, but I think he might hurt someone who was trying to hurt me.
“And Dill: he’s loud and funny and sometimes scares me – but in a good way: like when someone jumps out and says boo, not like they’re trying to hurt you. He’s like Sage. I know he’d never hurt me too.
“And Grandma – she’s nice to me and helps me learn new things. Tanner too. He’s never yelled at me, even when I ruined a piece of his best leather. He said I didn’t mean to. So, he gave me another piece and showed me again how to sew it.
“And Basil. He’s been all of those things. He made me tarts the first day I was here, even though he was really sick. I didn’t know it then, but now I understand how nice that was. I didn’t have to do anything for him or give him anything. He just did it because he knew I’d never had one and he wanted me to try it. And he taught me to read. And to cook. And how to play Rummy and Old Maid. And, oh! So many other things! It was all just because.
“I don’t understand any of it. I don’t know why they are all so nice. And it’s not just them, there’s the Carver family and the Widow Weaver and her kids and all the others I’ve met. They don’t even know me, yet they’ve all been so nice to me. I don’t understand why. And I wanted to know. They all seem so happy, and they look like they actually ENJOY being nice. It’s special. No one at my colony ever does things like that. But, I want to be like that too.
“I thought maybe that was what Assembly would tell me. Why are the people here so nice to me and everyone else, and could I learn how, too? I thought maybe it was because of Assembly.
“So, I followed Dill and Basil and stood outside the door. But some little kids came out and sang and were doing Simon says something, and then some lady came out with her baby, so I had to hide and couldn’t hear what was happening. So, I missed it again! I still don’t know what Assembly is about. Does it have anything to do with why people are so nice here? Is that what brotherhood and love is, like Dill said?”
Ariel looked around the group. They were still silent and listening politely, but the bored looks had all vanished before her question and had been replaced by an uneasiness. They looked at each other, not sure what to say. Keeper and Basil looked at each other and then at the group. The Rapha looked at each other and smiled but kept quiet also.
“Hollow,” Keeper finally said. “She’s waiting for an answer.”
Hollow, always one with a quick remark, was suddenly scrambling for words.
“Well…” he stammered.
“Yeah.” Dill answered for the hopper leader. “You put it in a nutshell, Princess.”
Hollow sputtered. “Regardless, we have rules here. Flyers are banned from our meetings! We tried this once before and it proved to be disastrous. Some of you may not remember the days before the ban. The flyers were attacking our people and stealing from us. Their own queen was killed because of them! Do we want those kinds in among us? Influencing our children?”
“Let’s think about this, Hollow,” Tanner interjected. “Ariel would have only been a year old back then. I am so sure she was in on that!”
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Benjamin,” Hollow remarked.
“Ariel’s mother happened to be the queen,” Keeper reminded the hopper. “Her plans are what brought this whole Alliance into being. If the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, I would say you are casting the apple as far from the tree as possible.”
“Are we forgetting who her father is?” Hallow fairly screamed at them. “How he led the attacks against our people? How are we to know just which tree this ‘apple’ is falling from?”
Willow, the wood sprite high councilor, scratched his chin and spoke for the first time. “Well, I know of this child’s tribe and have had dealings with them,” he said. “They are a cut-throat, juvenile, deceitful group and I wouldn’t trust the lot of them with a dirty diaper. I remember well the days surrounding the signing of the Alliance, and I know part of the reason we signed it was to make a pact protecting us from tribes such as them. We posted sentries for weeks, on the lookout for them. Every man among us slept by the threshold of our homes with a weapon by his side. Even now, seeing them from afar, one can’t help but see how uncivilized they are. They take advantage of the weak and have no empathy even for their own kind. They make me very cautious about going too far into their side of the valley.”
